Bob Condotta, A Reporter, Evaluates The Seahawks’ Victory Over The Cardinals

It will take a while to sort through the previous Seahawks season.

It was actually too much time, as everyone had hoped for at least one or two more weeks of the season to continue.

Furthermore, during the course of the next few days, opinions regarding what transpired and what has to be done now may shift.

On Sunday, the overall result of a 9-8 record that was insufficient to qualify for the playoffs was one of pure disappointment. With another mysterious comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals, 21-20, there was at least some fun on the way out; nevertheless, this one could have been appropriate given all the odd things that have happened to the Seahawks at this stadium.

On to the grades.

Quarterback

The NFL’s record number of go-ahead touchdown passes, seven, was thrown by quarterback Geno Smith in the fourth quarter or overtime, capping a memorable season. Smith finished the season with a 20-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio, with a 5-to-0 ratio in the final three games. Even while his stats didn’t quite live up to his breakout campaign from the previous year, they were still good enough to get Seattle into the postseason and nearly there.

Grade: B

Running back

With 108 yards on 16 carries in the first half of the game, the Seahawks got the running offence back on track. This season, they have only had 100 yards or more six previous times. They punted on their first four possessions and managed just 30 yards on nine attempts in the second half, which was more of a grind. With 78 yards on 17 carries, Kenneth Walker III demonstrated throughout why the team wants to rely on him.

Grade: B

Receivers

The Seahawks had five drives of 20 yards or less on this strange day for the offence, yet they still managed to score on four of those drives. With DK Metcalf having just one grab on six targets for a meagre 10 yards, the wide receiver corps made sense. Despite having just two catches for 71 yards, Tyler Lockett had one of his best games of the season to make up for the slack. He corralled the two-point play that put them ahead and scored the game’s winning touchdown on a 34-yard pass. A 37-yarder helped set up their first touchdown.

Grade: B

Tight end

Apart from Noah Fant departing the game with a shattered bone in his hand, this was a good way to close the season. Will Dissly finished with 46 yards total and scored his lone touchdown of the season in the first half.

Grade: B-minus

offensive line

It’s remarkable that Smith was never sacked and that Arizona didn’t get a quarterback hit, given how ineffective the offence looked for a large portion of the game. It is evident that Smith received the necessary protection to execute the plays on the last drive. Despite the running game’s third-best average of the season (5.5 yards per carry), the second half didn’t seem or feel good until the last drive. Stone Forsythe started at right tackle with Abraham Lucas out, as was to be expected.
Grade: C

Defensive line
The Seahawks started the game with rookie Cameron Young at nose tackle and Leonard Williams at the other tackle position on a four-man line because Jarran Reed was sidelined due to a knee injury. Young was generally in the centre, flanked by Williams and Dre’Mont Jones, when Seattle used three down linemen. To help offset Reed’s loss, Myles Adams and Austin Faoliu both contributed significantly with their plays. Arizona finally did to the Seahawks what everyone had feared, running for 206 yards on 38 rushes (5.4 yards per attempt), with James Conner scoring 150 yards on 27. It appeared to be going well early on. It was quite remarkable that they conquered that. In addition, they gave up 466 yards and only had three quarterback hits and one official sack. What a strange game for Seattle to forfeit.

Grade: C-minus

Linebacker

For trying to play with a sprained ankle and then hurting it again early in the game, linebacker Jordan Brooks deserves some leeway. After that, he had trouble and was finally benched in favour of Devin Bush. He missed at least one tackle, which allowed Conner to gain 34 yards on a swing pass. Bobby Wagner led the NFL with 183 tackles, a career high, and concluded with a game-high 15 tackles. Despite having six tackles and two for a loss, Bush’s play was inconsistent all game long.

Grade: C

Secondary
Devon Witherspoon played the slot in the nickel and outside on the left side in the base defence in his second week back after recovering from a hip pointer, and it showed. He recorded 11 tackles, three of which were for a loss. However, there were once more far too many missed tackles, and Kyler Murray’s passer rating was 110.7 in the end.

Grade: C-minus

Special teams
Michael Dickson, the punter, had a generally good day, finishing with two inside the 20 and a 47.2 net average. It was a good coverage. In the closing seconds of the game, the Seahawks were able to successfully defend two failed field goals. Pete Carroll, the head coach, suggested that their strategy for pursuing field goals may have contributed. That’s for everyone else to evaluate, but for this particular day, it worked. We’ll also give them a pass for the strange touchdown when it appeared like Arizona was setting up for a field goal. All in all, that play was very strange.

Grade: A-minus

Coaching
This would have been one of the most frustrating days of the Carroll era if Matt Prater had made even one of those field goals, as the team would have finished with a losing record and missed the playoffs. Rather, it appeared to be just another ordinary day, filled with still more peculiar incidents leading to yet another victory comeback. They have won a game in the final two minutes or overtime for the sixth time this season. Carroll should be commended for the team’s refusal to give up at the conclusion of the game and for going for two when, as the players subsequently stated, overtime wasn’t necessary.